Grand Hotel Kupari

Kupari is a bay on the Adriatic Sea in an area considered to have the best beaches in the country. In the 1960s, modern-day Croatia was part of the Socialist Federation of Yugoslavia, and under the rule of Josip Broz, (a.k.a Tito), Kupari underwent a major transformation into a luxury holiday resort for the military elite of the Yugoslav People’s Army and their families.The resort was made up of several hotels including the Pelegrin, the Kupari, Goričine, Goričine II, and the Grand Hotel. Tito had his own stylish holiday home of course, and for the more outdoorsy types, there were also the Kupari auto camping site which could accommodate a further 4,500 guests. In the 1980s, Kupari was opened up to foreign tourists (and their much needed western currency) and right up until its last season, the resort was as desirable as any European hotspot.Shortly after the summer of 1991, all that changed, the Croatian War of Independence saw this peaceful paradise dragged into a devastating fight for freedom. As the Yugoslav People’s Army were about to obliterate Dubrovnik, Yugoslav naval ships also began surrounding the bay. A small unit of Croatian police were protecting the resort but on October 4th, the first shot was fired at the hotels.Only twenty days later, the Yugoslav People’s Army had re-gained control of their former military resort. Just one problem; their warships had all but destroyed it.After a counter attack in May 1992, the Croatians successfully gained independence and were back at Kupari. Following the war, things didn’t get much better for the resort however as the complex once owned by the Yugoslav army was stripped of everything of value. One of the hotels left crumbling in the resort is much older than the others. Built for the “rich and beautiful” in 1919, the Grand Hotel has a more attractive classical style.

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